


Silence and Secrets

by AriesOnMars



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hurt/Comfortverse, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 17:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14242467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriesOnMars/pseuds/AriesOnMars
Summary: Ezra isn't as good as he thinks he is at hiding what he needs.





	Silence and Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DuaeCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DuaeCat/gifts).



Ezra liked to imagine that he had a few old memories of his parents when he was sick or hurt. The memories came to him when he was curled up somewhere and aching all the worse because no one was there to comfort him. The feeling of his mother’s nails stroking through his hair, of his father’s beard against his face when he’d kiss Ezra’s forehead, of a voice murmuring quietly so as not to wake him up.

 

“ _I’ll always be here for you.”_

 

But reality would come to him then, dark and cold and hard and heavy like a weight pressing on his chest. They weren’t there for him anymore. He was alone, and he didn’t have anyone. He had years and years of that reality. He taught himself how to bandage his own wounds and he forced himself to ignore any pains that weren’t life-threatening. It all felt wrong, and like something was missing, but it worked and he survived. Even on the Ghost he kept those old habits alive. He told himself it was because he was being realistic. If he tried to get the sort of comfort he wanted he’d be in the way, or more likely nobody would want to give it to him anyway. It wasn’t because he was afraid to trust someone with that, of course not.

 

Ezra had assumed everything was going well with the way things were. He wasn’t bothering anyone and he was keeping his own need to be soothed quiet. Everything was fine aside from the strange loneliness he felt when he’d be aching and nobody would be telling him everything was fine or touching him or anything like that. So when Zeb groaned and got up from the bottom bunk one night while Ezra was curled up and trying to rub away the ache in his side he didn’t think anything of it. He’d just barely missed a blaster shot, and his cadet jacket was in worse shape than he was—he’d have to nab a new one to keep up his disguise—but the plasma had left a tingling, aching numbness where it just nearly come into contact with his skin. Hera had inspected it, but when she poked and prodded him it was too cold and detached to get any real comfort out of it, and she had told him that it would hurt for a few hours and be alright. By morning he should be fine.

 

“Alright, you’ve been whining for the past hour,” Zeb growled in the dark and Ezra huffed and curled up a little more.

 

“No I haven’t. And even if I was you don’t get to complain. If I have to put up with your snoring every night you can put up with this.”

 

Ezra jerked when Zeb touched his head, his first thought that the Lasat was going to grab him and drag him out to the hall with just a pillow and a blanket, but that didn’t happen. Zeb was big, and he was strong, but when he wanted to he could be gentle too. His claws parted Ezra’s hair and brushed it back, and against his will Ezra sighed and relaxed under the touch. Zeb’s hand went still for a moment and Ezra felt a weird sort of embarrassment bubble up in him, but he didn’t have long enough to dwell on it before Zeb moved to just scoop Ezra up off the bunk entirely and bring him close.

 

“What are you doing?” Ezra had wanted it to come out more aggressive than it did, but he was tired and he hurt and all he wanted to do was tuck close to Zeb and finally relax.

 

“I can’t sleep with you whimpering all night,” Zeb said gruffly, although not entirely convincingly, and he got back into the bottom bunk with Ezra settled beside him. “So if this is what I’ve got to do to get some peace and quiet, well, so be it.”

 

Ezra didn’t believe him, but he didn’t really want to call Zeb’s bluff and be put back into his own bunk again to rub his side and wish he had someone to do exactly what Zeb was offering to do. So instead he tucked in close against him. After a little while Zeb’s hand found the ache where the just-missed blaster bolt had grazed him and starting rubbing gently. It wasn’t enough pressure to make it worse, but the slow, constant touch seemed to ease the weird not-quite-pain away and distracted Ezra from the numbness.

 

Ezra was nearly asleep when he felt Zeb’s beard brush against his face and a soft pressure on his forehead.


End file.
